National report shows areas of Texas that still lack indoor plumbing

By Craig Hlavaty |
April 25, 2014

Imagine life without indoor plumbing. The following places in Texas live that nightmare every day. These are the counties where at least 2 percent of households still lack all of the modern conveniences.

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Blanco County -- 2%

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La Salle County -- 3%

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Tyler County -- 2.3%

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Zavala County -- 2.7%

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Uvalde County -- 2.2%

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Real County -- 2.2%

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Maverick County -- 3%

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Mason County -- 2.5%

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Hidalgo County -- 2.3%

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Eastland County -- 2.4%

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Brewster County -- 3.3%

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Duval County -- 3.5%

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Culberson County -- 2.4%

Andrews County -- 2%

The next time you find yourself complaining about a leaky faucet or a toilet that won't stop making that running sound, consider yourself lucky. There is a segment of the American population that might not even have those things.

In Texas, there are several counties where Americans report a lack of indoor plumbing luxuries.

According to a recent American Community Survey highlighted by the Washington Post, over 630,000 households in the United States report being without one or more of some of the standard of facilities: a toilet, a tub to bathe or shower in, and a tap with running water.

Going by the current U.S. Census Bureau figure, which states that in every household there are 2.6 people average, this means the number of people without some form of indoor plumbing could be around 1.6 million.

One of the counties in the United States with the highest percentage of households with incomplete plumbing was Apache County in Arizona. According to the Washington Post, 17 percent of just over 19,000 households reporting a lack of indoor plumbing.

In some areas of Alaska, nearly 40 percent of homes are rugged outposts without modern plumbing conveniences. But considering Alaska's frontier, that's probably just how they want it.